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Entries from December 2016

December 27, 2016

It was a festive and fantastic week in our adoption center and we are excited to share that 101 pets were adopted last week! We are so thankful to our amazing adoption counselors for their help uniting these pets with new, loving and lasting families. You can help spread the word about our available pets and lifesaving work by "liking" and sharing our social media posts on Facebook and tumblr. You can also follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

Our adoption center is open every day of the week: Monday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday 12 p.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m and Sunday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Visit our website to see some of our dogs and cats currently available for adoption, for directions to our Robins-Starr Humane Center, to view the programs and services we offer and more.

Adoption Specials

Home for the Holidays - Through the month of December, adoption fees for all adult cats are reduced 50 percent.

Seniors for Seniors- Adopters age 60 or older who adopt a cat or dog age 5 years or older are eligible for a $50 adoption fee. Seniors for Seniors is an ongoing adoption promotion. Adoption of a cat in this program will include a cat starter kit, cardboard scratcher and a toy. Adoption of a dog through this program includes a leash and collar, food and water bowl and a toy. You can learn more about the Seniors for Seniors program here.

Match Finder tool

If you have not seen the pet you’re looking for among the cats and dogs currently available at our humane center, we recommend that you try our free Match Finder tool. This online tool is designed to help you find your new best friend by automatically emailing you when a pet matching your desired criteria is available. If you have any questions, please contact our amazing adoption team at 804-521-1307.

Offsite Adoptions

In addition to having many wonderful cats at our humane center, we also have several felines at the Carytown location of PETCO. If you would like to learn more about these felines or set up an appointment to meet them in person, please call our adoption team at 804-521-1307.

Alumni Updates

Our staff and volunteers love to know what our precious adoptees are up to, so please keep us posted! If you would like to share a picture or story of your adopted pet, please send us an email. If you would like to see your pet featured on one of our social media sites, please tell us in your message that we may share your update.

To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.

December 21, 2016

It was a splendid week in our adoption center and we are excited to share that 92 pets were adopted last week! We are so thankful to our amazing adoption counselors for their help uniting these pets with new, loving and lasting families. You can help spread the word about our available pets and lifesaving work by "liking" and sharing our social media posts on Facebook and tumblr. You can also follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

Our adoption center is open every day of the week: Monday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday 12 p.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m and Sunday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Visit our website to see some of our dogs and cats currently available for adoption, for directions to our Robins-Starr Humane Center, to view the programs and services we offer and more.

Adoption Specials

Home for the Holidays - Through the month of December, adoption fees for all adult cats are reduced 50 percent.

Seniors for Seniors- Adopters age 60 or older who adopt a cat or dog age 5 years or older are eligible for a $50 adoption fee. Seniors for Seniors is an ongoing adoption promotion. Adoption of a cat in this program will include a cat starter kit, cardboard scratcher and a toy. Adoption of a dog through this program includes a leash and collar, food and water bowl and a toy. You can learn more about the Seniors for Seniors program here.

Match Finder tool

If you have not seen the pet you’re looking for among the cats and dogs currently available at our humane center, we recommend that you try our free Match Finder tool. This online tool is designed to help you find your new best friend by automatically emailing you when a pet matching your desired criteria is available. If you have any questions, please contact our amazing adoption team at 804-521-1307.

Offsite Adoptions

In addition to having many wonderful cats at our humane center, we also have several felines at the Carytown location of PETCO. If you would like to learn more about these felines or set up an appointment to meet them in person, please call our adoption team at 804-521-1307.

Alumni Updates

Our staff and volunteers love to know what our precious adoptees are up to, so please keep us posted! If you would like to share a picture or story of your adopted pet, please send us an email. If you would like to see your pet featured on one of our social media sites, please tell us in your message that we may share your update.

To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.

December 16, 2016

Admissions counselor Amber Garcia was part of the team who traveled to Dulles International Airport to meet the 14 dogs rescued from a meat farm in South Korea.

The Richmond SPCA worked recently with Humane Society International in a life-saving effort to rescue 14 dogs from a South Korean dog meat farm and we took those dogs into our care. It is wonderful to watch them blossom under the gentle, loving and professional care of our staff members. We informed our constituents of our life-saving effort through a Facebook post and there were numerous news storieson televisionthat evening and in the Richmond Times-Dispatch the next morning.

An enormous number of our local supporters voiced their immense delight and heartfelt appreciation for what we had done for these dogs who, without us, would have doubtless met a horrible fate in South Korea. The dog meat farm they were in was shut down by Korean government officials. Had that not occurred, these dogs would have been killed for food, and subjected to unimaginable cruelty beforehand since such dogs raised for meat in South Korea are often tortured before they are slaughtered. After the dog meat farm's closure, the rescued dogs were temporarily cared for by a private Korean rescue agency with support from Humane Society International and The Humane Society of the United States. While in that South Korean group's care for a period of several months, they were quarantined and received all appropriate vaccinations and other medical care. We did not pay any of these costs nor did we pay the cost of transportation, all of which was paid for by Humane Society International.

Just a few hours after the news broke of our saving the dogs from South Korea, a group composed largely of breeders and show dog enthusiasts shared our post on their Facebook page and urged their members to go on the attack by posting nasty comments on our Facebook page and on the various news sites. They descended like a swarm of locusts pretending as if they cared about the well-being of homeless animals. I say “pretending” because their group proclaims openly that their purpose is to promote loudly the idea that pets are property and that people who own pets should be free to be able to do anything they wish with and to their property without interference from humane organizations such as ours or from any governmental entity. Their posts argued that we should not be caring for dogs from other countries, stoked groundless fears about the health and behavior of the dogs and even alleged that we were participating in the breeding of dogs in Asia for the purpose of sending them to the U.S.

These miscreants were soon joined by others from other countries. We could establish with just a few mouse clicks that most of these people were in the business of breeding dogs to ship them around the world to buyers – the most selfish and irresponsible kind of opportunist imaginable. They wrote all kinds of things in various media venues that were completely untrue, made up whole cloth in order to cause people to distrust our integrity, to question our use of resources, to fear these dogs and diseases they supposedly would spread. This was all being done by people who have never given a dime to the Richmond SPCA (or probably to any animal welfare organization) and who do nothing themselves whatsoever to save or protect animals. In fact, they were doing all this in order to benefit their businesses which add to the homeless animal issues and cause animals to suffer greatly for the purposes of their own financial gain. It is a massive understatement to say that they have no interest in the well-being of animals. Members of our staff were forced to spend many hours providing accurate information where appropriate, deleting the many nasty and untrue comments and banning the horrible commenters from spamming our page. It consumed time that could have been spent on doing good things for animals.

Admissions counselor Callie Ferguson carries one of the fourteen dogs after many hours of travel from South Korea.

Saving dogs from the horrors of a dog meat farm is noble and important work in fulfillment of our mission which extends to all animals regardless of geography. While the vast majority of the animals we save are from Virginia shelters, we have long helped to save animals’ lives from natural disasters and from horrific hoarding situations that occur in other parts of the US. We believe that our primary focus must be on saving as many animals as we can with the resources we have and on prioritizing those who need us the most and where we can make a lasting difference. It is clear that we are helping in the work in South Korea that is bringing to an end the horrific abuses of dog meat farms.

So, let me speak directly to those trolls:You will not be allowed to post anything on any means of communication that is within our control. More importantly, you will never alter or affect in any way our decisions about where and how we will save animals’ lives. You are not our supporters and you are not supporters of animal welfare. We will continue to save every animal we possibly can wherever we can and your xenophobia arising from your greed will not be a factor in our decisions. We see you for what you are – people who are looking out for nothing but their own financial gain at the cost of much suffering on the part of defenseless animals. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

And, now, let me speak to our wonderful supporters:We appreciate deeply the support for this effort that you have expressed and I know that together we share the sincere belief that every animal’s life is precious. Every one. That means that we will save every single animal that our resources will allow. Our goal is to maximize the use of the resources that you so generously give us to save the lives and reduce the suffering of as many animals as possible. In this particular instance, these Korean dogs desperately needed us to take them in and the costs of our doing so did not fall on us. Most of our life saving occurs here in our own community and across Virginia. It could never happen without your support. From time to time we are called upon to save animals in need elsewhere, sometimes due to a natural disaster and sometimes because we can help in shutting down the Korean dog meat trade or other reason. We will hear those calls and will be able to respond to them thanks to you. We are eternally grateful and so are the animals.

Robin Robertson Starr is the chief executive officer of the Richmond SPCA. To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.

December 15, 2016

It was a truly remarkable week in our adoption center and we are excited to share that 145 pets were adopted last week! We are so thankful to our amazing adoption counselors for their help uniting these pets with new, loving and lasting families. You can help spread the word about our available pets and lifesaving work by "liking" and sharing our social media posts on Facebook and tumblr. You can also follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

Our adoption center is open every day of the week: Monday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday 12 p.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m and Sunday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Visit our website to see some of our dogs and cats currently available for adoption, for directions to our Robins-Starr Humane Center, to view the programs and services we offer and more.

Adoption Specials

Home for the Holidays - Through the month of December, adoption fees for all adult cats are reduced 50 percent.

Seniors for Seniors- Adopters age 60 or older who adopt a cat or dog age 5 years or older are eligible for a $50 adoption fee. Seniors for Seniors is an ongoing adoption promotion. Adoption of a cat in this program will include a cat starter kit, cardboard scratcher and a toy. Adoption of a dog through this program includes a leash and collar, food and water bowl and a toy. You can learn more about the Seniors for Seniors program here.

Match Finder tool

If you have not seen the pet you’re looking for among the cats and dogs currently available at our humane center, we recommend that you try our free Match Finder tool. This online tool is designed to help you find your new best friend by automatically emailing you when a pet matching your desired criteria is available. If you have any questions, please contact our amazing adoption team at 804-521-1307.

Offsite Adoptions

In addition to having many wonderful cats at our humane center, we also have several felines at the Carytown location of PETCO. If you would like to learn more about these felines or set up an appointment to meet them in person, please call our adoption team at 804-521-1307.

Alumni Updates

Our staff and volunteers love to know what our precious adoptees are up to, so please keep us posted! If you would like to share a picture or story of your adopted pet, please send us an email. If you would like to see your pet featured on one of our social media sites, please tell us in your message that we may share your update.

To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.

December 07, 2016

It was a tremendous week in our adoption center and we are excited to share that 73 pets were adopted last week! We are so thankful to our amazing adoption counselors for their help uniting these pets with new, loving and lasting families. You can help spread the word about our available pets and lifesaving work by "liking" and sharing our social media posts on Facebook and tumblr. You can also follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

Our adoption center is open every day of the week: Monday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday 12 p.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m and Sunday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Visit our website to see some of our dogs and cats currently available for adoption, for directions to our Robins-Starr Humane Center, to view the programs and services we offer and more.

Seniors for Seniors- Adopters age 60 or older who adopt a cat or dog age 5 years or older are eligible for a $50 adoption fee. Seniors for Seniors is an ongoing adoption promotion. Adoption of a cat in this program will include a cat starter kit, cardboard scratcher and a toy. Adoption of a dog through this program includes a leash and collar, food and water bowl and a toy. You can learn more about the Seniors for Seniors program here.

Match Finder tool

If you have not seen the pet you’re looking for among the cats and dogs currently available at our humane center, we recommend that you try our free Match Finder tool. This online tool is designed to help you find your new best friend by automatically emailing you when a pet matching your desired criteria is available. If you have any questions, please contact our amazing adoption team at 804-521-1307.

Offsite Adoptions

In addition to having many wonderful cats at our humane center, we also have several felines at the Carytown location of PETCO. If you would like to learn more about these felines or set up an appointment to meet them in person, please call our adoption team at 804-521-1307.

Alumni Updates

Our staff and volunteers love to know what our precious adoptees are up to, so please keep us posted! If you would like to share a picture or story of your adopted pet, please send us an email. If you would like to see your pet featured on one of our social media sites, please tell us in your message that we may share your update.

To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.

December 02, 2016

Adoption Counselor Danielle Long holds Binks, a kitten with Cerebellar Hypoplasia whose life was saved by the Richmond SPCA.

It is with great pride that we make the Richmond SPCA’s Annual Report for our 2015-16 Fiscal Year available for viewing on our website. This Annual Report provides a clear and detailed perspective on our use of resources during the fiscal year just completed to save the lives of and to protect the animals who are the heart of our mission. The fiscal year being reported on was an absolutely stunning one in terms of the growth of our life-saving work and our services to support the companion animals of our community and the people who love and need them. I could never find the words to adequately thank the donors and volunteers whose help and support made this amazing increase in the breadth of the accomplishment of our mission possible.

However, our reason for providing this Annual Report publicly is not to boast about having had a particularly good year but because we believe deeply that transparency to the public by non-profits is crucial whatever may be the results. Every non-profit organization should provide a detailed and public report that lets its community and supporters know exactly what has been accomplished with the resources that have been given to it. I am so very grateful to Tabitha Treloar for her detailed and dedicated work that made this Annual Report so thorough and understandable.

Robin Robertson Starr is the chief executive officer of the Richmond SPCA. To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.

December 01, 2016

It was a truly wonderful week in our adoption center and we are excited to share that 72 pets were adopted last week! We are so thankful to our amazing adoption counselors for their help uniting these pets with new, loving and lasting families. You can help spread the word about our available pets and lifesaving work by "liking" and sharing our social media posts on Facebook and tumblr. You can also follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

Our adoption center is open every day of the week: Monday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday 12 p.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m and Sunday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Visit our website to see some of our dogs and cats currently available for adoption, for directions to our Robins-Starr Humane Center, to view the programs and services we offer and more.

Adoption Specials

Seniors for Seniors- Adopters age 60 or older who adopt a cat or dog age 5 years or older are eligible for a $50 adoption fee. Seniors for Seniors is an ongoing adoption promotion. Adoption of a cat in this program will include a cat starter kit, cardboard scratcher and a toy. Adoption of a dog through this program includes a leash and collar, food and water bowl and a toy. You can learn more about the Seniors for Seniors program here.

Match Finder tool

If you have not seen the pet you’re looking for among the cats and dogs currently available at our humane center, we recommend that you try our free Match Finder tool. This online tool is designed to help you find your new best friend by automatically emailing you when a pet matching your desired criteria is available. If you have any questions, please contact our amazing adoption team at 804-521-1307.

Offsite Adoptions

In addition to having many wonderful cats at our humane center, we also have several felines at the Carytown location of PETCO. If you would like to learn more about these felines or set up an appointment to meet them in person, please call our adoption team at 804-521-1307.

Alumni Updates

Our staff and volunteers love to know what our precious adoptees are up to, so please keep us posted! If you would like to share a picture or story of your adopted pet, please send us an email. If you would like to see your pet featured on one of our social media sites, please tell us in your message that we may share your update.

To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.